According to fresh guidelines issued by the BMC on Thursday night, home isolation will continue for at least seven days from testing positive. It can end after the patient does not report fever for three days in a row.
Mumbai, home to 1 crore voters and 420 candidates vying for 36 assembly seats, is gearing up for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed all preparations for smooth conduct of the polls, ensuring a robust security arrangement and dedicated facilities for senior citizens and differently-abled voters. The BMC has also urged citizens to exercise their franchise, emphasizing the importance of active participation in strengthening democracy.
According to a civic official, the demolition at Ranaut's Pali Hill office started around 11 am and continued for the next one-and-a-half hours, till the high court passed the order.
If any corruption has taken place in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which was ruled by the undivided Shiv Sena for more than two decades, then probe it, but also inquire into the work done by states during the pandemic, he said.
The BJP is aiming to wrest control of the BMC from the Shiv Sena
A special court in Mumbai denied bail to businessman Sujit Patkar, an aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in the alleged COVID treatment centres scam. The court found that Patkar played with the "life of people" by under-deployment of doctors and staff to generate proceeds of crime. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Patkar's firm, Lifeline Hospital Management, fraudulently obtained a contract for supplying medical staff at Dahisar and Worli Jumbo Covid facilities during the pandemic, resulting in the generation of proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to Rs 32.44 crore. The court noted that there are ample statements of the witnesses to show that a list of more staff members was prepared than being deployed on the instructions of Patkar.
Asking the BMC to stop demolition, the court said that as per the stop-work notice issued on Tuesday, the alterations had not come up overnight. "However, all of a sudden the corporation appears to have overnight woken up from its slumber, issued notice to the petitioner, that too when she is out of state, directing her to respond within 24 hours, and not granting her any further time, despite written request, and proceeding to demolish the premises upon completion of 24 hours," the court said.
Recently she has been "at loggerheads with the Government of Maharashtra regarding her views over the handling of certain issues which impact the public in general," it added.
Sounding the bugle for Mumbai civic body polls, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday asked party leaders and workers to inflict a 'deeper wound' on Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on its home turf.
When asked about his recent altercation with the actor, Raut said the matter is over for him.
Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has criticized comedian Kunal Kamra for his recent remarks about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, calling them "disrespectful" and "in bad taste." Ranaut, who was speaking to reporters outside Parliament, said that Kamra's comedy was "disgracing" and that Shinde had earned his position through hard work. She also echoed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' call for Kamra to apologize for his "low level comedy." The controversy comes after Shiv Sena members damaged the comedy club where Kamra's show took place, in response to his jokes about Shinde's political career and recent developments in Maharashtra.
In the light of a rise in COVID-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to register offences against people who violate safety guidelines, an official said on Thursday.
MNS leader Raj Thackeray has sparked speculation about a potential political rapprochement with his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, suggesting their past differences are "trivial" and uniting for the greater good of "Marathi manoos" is not a difficult task. The comments come amid a political landscape in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing a tough battle to retain its stronghold in Mumbai in upcoming civic polls, with competition from the Shinde-led Sena and BJP.
The BMC notice to the couple recently arrested over the Hanuman Chalisa row was issued under Section 488 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, according to which, officials can visit any building and ascertain whether any illegal alterations have been undertaken.
The other 19 passengers who had tested positive for the viral infection were still on the ship, he said, adding that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) conducted RT-PCR tests of 1,827 people on board the cruise on Tuesday night and their reports were expected later in the day.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday stayed the demolition process initiated by the BMC for illegal construction at Ranaut's bungalow and sought to know why did the city civic body enter the property when the owner was not present.
'It's better if everyone uses eco-friendly Ganesha idols.'
The BMC also said that Ganesh mandals in the city have been asked to keep the Ganpati festival celebrations simple and low-key this year and focus on social service.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday urged the Bombay high court to dismiss actor Sonu Sood's petition seeking to restrain the civic body from carrying out demolition at his property in Mumbai.
Thackeray also drew a comparison between the current regime and Hitler.
Ranaut filed a plea in the high court on September 9, seeking that the court declare the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Pali Hill area here by the BMC as illegal. She subsequently amended her plea to demand Rs 2 crore as damages from the civic body and its officials for the demolition.
A 55-year-old man, who was among the several persons injured in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus accident in Kurla area of Mumbai, died on Monday morning, taking the death toll to eight, a civic official said.
The Mumbai civic body and police have advised all people in the city and surrounding areas to stay indoors as much as possible.
Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is a 'habitual offender' who keeps carrying out unauthorised construction work in a residential building in suburban Juhu despite demolition action initiated on two occasions in the past, the Mumbai civic body stated in its affidavit filed in the Bombay high court on Tuesday.
In a tweet on Monday, she said officials of the Sena-ruled civic body visited her office and may demolish the property on Tuesday.
As per the BMC, Ranaut had carried out several alterations without permission at her Pali Hill bungalow in Mumbai, which were first noticed on September 5. The court wanted to know whether alterations, illegal or not, existed prior to that, because under section 354 A of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the BMC can stop only 'ongoing' illegal construction.
'The said premises will be used for emergency staff of 'A' Ward and quarantine the person whoever is in contact with a positive COVID-19 patient and are not symptomatic.'
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has opened vaccination booking slots for all adults from Friday evening.
Requesting people to refrain from doing any act that leads to the spread of COVID-19, the civic body, in a release, warned that violators may invite strict action under relevant sections of the Epidemic Act 1897, the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the Indian Penal Code.
According to the civic body, the decision has been taken to curb the high morality rate among COVID-19 patients in the city. An analysis of data shows that mortality rate in patients in the 50 to 60 age group is very high.
Until now, the BMC was conducting swab tests of high-risk contacts of coronavirus positive patients as soon as they were quarantined.
Many residents complained of suspected gas leak from Chembur, Ghatkopar, Powai and Vikhroli areas late on Saturday night, an official of the BMC's disaster management cell said.
The metropolis saw an upward trend in daily COVID-19 cases in the second week of October.
The notice pointed out over a dozen alterations in the bungalow, like a "toilet being converted into office cabin" and "new toilets being constructed along side the staircase", the official said.
In the wake of bountiful rains in the last few days, one more lake supplying water to Mumbai, Tansa, started overflowing on Wednesday, civic officials said.
In a lengthy statement on X late Monday night, a defiant Kamra said those busy leaking his number on social media or calling him incessantly should know that it all goes to his voicemail where they will be subjected to "the very song" that they hate.
A 5 per cent increase in fees for various licences has been proposed without tweaking the existing tax structure. The BMC's total budget estimates for the next financial year are 8.95 per cent more than the last fiscal.
'Those seeking short-term benefits are joining the Shinde-led Sena and the ones looking at long-term benefits are joining the BJP.'
The establishment -- Vice-Global Tapas Bar -- against which the action was being taken, is located in Juhu suburb.
With the Maharashtra government on Thursday amending its air travel rules in view of global concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cancelled its previous guidelines issued to the city airport authorities and asked them to follow the revised ones as issued by the state.
